Computer networking is rapidly becoming a standard way of life. Computer networks have grown from isolated connections among research scientists, to the "Information Superhighway" of today. Every day, millions of consumers, businesses and other organizations have access to a rapidly-increasing resource of materials over the Internet. Some examples of these resources are on-line universities, museums, libraries, and "Newsgroups," which provide forums for discussion on a huge variety of subjects.
Perhaps the fastest-growing segment of the Internet is known as the World Wide Web. Through the use of standardized text and graphic formats, computer users can easily access and navigate through the wealth of available information. Due to its highly graphical format, businesses have also begun advertising through the Web, by allowing users to download images, video or sound clips, and/or text documents relating to their products. Some businesses have already begun to accept orders directly over the Internet, using credit card information, or an experimental new type of debit account known as "e-cash" or electronic cash.
In the developed countries, gaining access to the Internet is a simple matter of desire. With proper computer equipment, users can easily contract, for a nominal fee, with any of a growing number of "providers" that allow access to the Internet, usually over the phone system. Some providers offer a simple direct link, while others, such as COMPUSERVE and AMERICA ONLINE offer their own services and resources in addition to access to the Web. Universities and other organizations are often directly connected to the Internet and automatically provide access to any of their students, professors, members, etc. As a result, information is becoming more and more readily available. Currently, AMERICA ONLINE alone estimates that it handles hundreds of thousands pieces of e-mail every day.
As mentioned, access to the Internet is largely through phone lines or dedicated communications lines--in other words, a sophisticated telecommunications infrastructure. Such infrastructure only exists today in developed countries. In undeveloped countries, villages and communities separated by vast distances are fortunate if they have limited telephone service, if any. Even when there is phone service, the quality of the telephone connection is often poorly suited to sustain the bandwidth necessary to support digital data transfer at a usable rate.
The lack of access to the Web and Internet has not been perceived as a problem in the past. Users were mostly academics, researchers, or computer enthusiasts and the information available was often of a highly specialized nature. Now, however, with more users coming from the general population, and with the information being more broad-based, it is believed that access to the Internet will be mandatory for a country or society to participate in the global community of the very near future.
For example, physicians in developed countries can now confer electronically about cases, search massive medical databases and browse the latest medical journals, all from their personal workstation. Schoolchildren can search encyclopedias, visit faraway places on their screens, or even "chat" with other children around the country and the globe to discuss their homework.
Similarly, as corporations and other organizations extend their reach globally, the need for computer access in remote locations has also increased. This need applies to internal networks, intranets or any other organizational network.
Unfortunately, the obvious solution to the problem is not a currently economically viable one. If a proper infrastructure were installed connecting these remote communities, access would no longer be a problem. However, the astronomical cost of this installation, in the face of pressing healthcare, hunger and other priorities, simply cannot be justified today. Since the remote users will have potentially limited funds to expend on network access compared to their developed-world counterparts, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to recoup any investment spent on the infrastructure, notwithstanding the unquantifiable benefits to the users themselves.